Khemosabi! Khemosabi! Khemosabi!
That’s for you, Raskolnikov*.
18 Replies to “Not Notoriously Offensive Racial Epithet Day”
Enjoyed your Citizen Journalist Report on Right Talk today!
I thought I sounded like a dolt, but thanks for trying to make me feel better…
I would guess that �kemosabe� is a derivative of the Spanish �quien sabe,� which means �who knows.� Not exactly a put down. Nor do I remember the Lone Ranger saying the name in a derogatory manner. Why was this allowed to get a hearing in a court of law?
I thought you were good on the RightTalk show too. Loved the joke about Canadians sniggering about the US going all the way to Iraq for oil when we’re next door 🙂 Definately my favorite episode, or whatever you call it for radio.
“uh, Kate… I was baiting you”
Heh. I was kind of suprised you jumped to defend our status like that. “self-haters” indeed.
For those of us who didn’t catch it, will we be able to see a transcript sometime?
heh… how long until warren kinsella links to this?
There aren’t any transcripts, but righttalk replays the episodes several times during the week.
It’s amazing what Americans aren’t taught in school – I was there for 2 yrs (grades 9 & 11) – Gr. 11 you HAD to take American History (which I was fine with, I find history quite interesting). The teacher asked me to bring in some slides to show the class (this was in Louisiana, at that time ranked 49th for education). When I tried to pull down a map of North America – I couldn’t. The senior history teacher that also taught geography did not have a map of North America. So I pointed out Montana and said “about a foot higher is where you would find Edmonton.” Very sad.
I know we bitch about our education system(s), but my kid knows where Mexico is on a map.
Was it not Tonto who applied the “Kemosabe” to the Lone Ranger?
Candace,
Each US state is unique in it’s own way (besides the name) and some are more unique than others, to the point of being weird to all the rest of us. Louisiana fits that mold. Its history is more polyglot than virtually anywhere else, with Spanish, French (Acadian & frogs from France), Anglo-American, African, Caribean Creole and God knows what else all crowding into the only state that uses the term “parrish” instead of “county”. It was one of the first southern states to secede from the Union in 1861 and was the last one to be readmitted after Appomatox. It even tried to secede from the Confederacy! It’s always been a “cult of one” and more than a bit xenophobic. A map of North America there only grudgingly includes the US portions north of Kentucky (because they kind of have to do it now) and including anything even farther north is too much torture. Thus, painting all of us with the same brush is silly.
PS: If you really want to make a Louisianan angry, just remind him/her that William Tecumseh Sherman was the first president of Louisiana State University.
Funny you should mention the Civil War; I’m re-reading Shelby Foote’s excellent books for the umpteenth time, and there’s one section where he mentions Beauregard (I think) showing up with a bunch of Louisianans all speaking French, to the bewilderment of their fellow Sesech.
Another part that made me laugh out loud was Sherman’s delight at a federal ironclad going down in the Mississippi with a full compliment of reporters during the time that he and Grant were manoeuvring to get below Vicksburg. Needless to say, Sherman hated the press.
maz2
I do believe that Tonto used the term to refer to the Lone Ranger.
Bill Cosby when he used to be funny 400 years ago ,did a hilarious bit about how the Lone Ranger didn’t know any Mowhican (spelling, sorry dead language he was the last after all) and had to rely on Tonto to assure him of what it meant.
re: Louisiana
The history teacher had an excellent sense of the ridiculous, and threatened to fail me when I asked, after covering the civil war for over a month, “who exactly won the war?”
Apparently, Sherman dropped his sword and Lee, beiing a southern gentleman, picked it up & handed it to him. Sherman misunderstood & thought he was surrendering.
The deep South is truly unique – I loved it there and try to visit every decade or so, if only for the food…
Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. Some of my mother’s family served with the Maine infantry regiments and witnessed Lee’s last march. Joe Johnston surrendered to W. T. Sherman on April 26, 1865. The month of April, 1865 was when the United States truly became a nation, and despite our differences we have remained that way while even growing stronger in bond. I love the South, the North, the Mid-West and the West. My family lives throughout nearly all of it. I also have Canadian family, and I truly hope for the best up there. Truth will yet prevail.
I’m disappointed. I was so sure someone would fire this off to Kinsella so he could distract his readers once again from his own tribulations…
I’ll have to think of something better.
heh… how long until warren kinsella links to this?
If Mr Kantsellya wants to drop by DMB I’d love to have a little debate, any ole’ time
The only thing worse than a whining indian is a craven white turd like Whorein Kantsellya, trumpeting mindless apologetics and accusations out of his ass.
Why don’t you come and argue with a real breed?
Enjoyed your Citizen Journalist Report on Right Talk today!
I thought I sounded like a dolt, but thanks for trying to make me feel better…
I would guess that �kemosabe� is a derivative of the Spanish �quien sabe,� which means �who knows.� Not exactly a put down. Nor do I remember the Lone Ranger saying the name in a derogatory manner. Why was this allowed to get a hearing in a court of law?
Fran Striker Jr (who oughta know) says it means “trusty friend” or “trusty scout”
http://www.old-time.com/misc/kemo.html
I thought you were good on the RightTalk show too. Loved the joke about Canadians sniggering about the US going all the way to Iraq for oil when we’re next door 🙂 Definately my favorite episode, or whatever you call it for radio.
“uh, Kate… I was baiting you”
Heh. I was kind of suprised you jumped to defend our status like that. “self-haters” indeed.
For those of us who didn’t catch it, will we be able to see a transcript sometime?
heh… how long until warren kinsella links to this?
There aren’t any transcripts, but righttalk replays the episodes several times during the week.
It’s amazing what Americans aren’t taught in school – I was there for 2 yrs (grades 9 & 11) – Gr. 11 you HAD to take American History (which I was fine with, I find history quite interesting). The teacher asked me to bring in some slides to show the class (this was in Louisiana, at that time ranked 49th for education). When I tried to pull down a map of North America – I couldn’t. The senior history teacher that also taught geography did not have a map of North America. So I pointed out Montana and said “about a foot higher is where you would find Edmonton.” Very sad.
I know we bitch about our education system(s), but my kid knows where Mexico is on a map.
Was it not Tonto who applied the “Kemosabe” to the Lone Ranger?
Candace,
Each US state is unique in it’s own way (besides the name) and some are more unique than others, to the point of being weird to all the rest of us. Louisiana fits that mold. Its history is more polyglot than virtually anywhere else, with Spanish, French (Acadian & frogs from France), Anglo-American, African, Caribean Creole and God knows what else all crowding into the only state that uses the term “parrish” instead of “county”. It was one of the first southern states to secede from the Union in 1861 and was the last one to be readmitted after Appomatox. It even tried to secede from the Confederacy! It’s always been a “cult of one” and more than a bit xenophobic. A map of North America there only grudgingly includes the US portions north of Kentucky (because they kind of have to do it now) and including anything even farther north is too much torture. Thus, painting all of us with the same brush is silly.
PS: If you really want to make a Louisianan angry, just remind him/her that William Tecumseh Sherman was the first president of Louisiana State University.
Funny you should mention the Civil War; I’m re-reading Shelby Foote’s excellent books for the umpteenth time, and there’s one section where he mentions Beauregard (I think) showing up with a bunch of Louisianans all speaking French, to the bewilderment of their fellow Sesech.
Another part that made me laugh out loud was Sherman’s delight at a federal ironclad going down in the Mississippi with a full compliment of reporters during the time that he and Grant were manoeuvring to get below Vicksburg. Needless to say, Sherman hated the press.
maz2
I do believe that Tonto used the term to refer to the Lone Ranger.
Bill Cosby when he used to be funny 400 years ago ,did a hilarious bit about how the Lone Ranger didn’t know any Mowhican (spelling, sorry dead language he was the last after all) and had to rely on Tonto to assure him of what it meant.
re: Louisiana
The history teacher had an excellent sense of the ridiculous, and threatened to fail me when I asked, after covering the civil war for over a month, “who exactly won the war?”
Apparently, Sherman dropped his sword and Lee, beiing a southern gentleman, picked it up & handed it to him. Sherman misunderstood & thought he was surrendering.
The deep South is truly unique – I loved it there and try to visit every decade or so, if only for the food…
Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. Some of my mother’s family served with the Maine infantry regiments and witnessed Lee’s last march. Joe Johnston surrendered to W. T. Sherman on April 26, 1865. The month of April, 1865 was when the United States truly became a nation, and despite our differences we have remained that way while even growing stronger in bond. I love the South, the North, the Mid-West and the West. My family lives throughout nearly all of it. I also have Canadian family, and I truly hope for the best up there. Truth will yet prevail.
I’m disappointed. I was so sure someone would fire this off to Kinsella so he could distract his readers once again from his own tribulations…
I’ll have to think of something better.
heh… how long until warren kinsella links to this?
If Mr Kantsellya wants to drop by DMB I’d love to have a little debate, any ole’ time
The only thing worse than a whining indian is a craven white turd like Whorein Kantsellya, trumpeting mindless apologetics and accusations out of his ass.
Why don’t you come and argue with a real breed?